Raspberry PI Model B (XBMC)

[Sumolx]

I'm running RaspBMC RC3 on my Model B 256 MByte board via a 32 GByte USB Stick.

It does work pretty good with the MPEG2 license but there seems to be some kind of horizontal banding on fast movement not sure what is causing it. Could be the DLNA Stream or the PI but it's not too distracting.

Ahhh figured it out, XBMC is not switching to the native stream resolution thus it's getting up scaled by the gnu. Picture looks perfect now!

I also noticed I was able to watch copy-freely in the Premium folder but not the copy-once. Trying to view a copy-once will just timeout and this is probably because XBMC doesn't support DTCP-IP.

My settings will void your warranty bit:

hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_drive=2
hdmi_force_edid_audio=1
hdmi_group=1
disable_overscan=1
decode_MPG2=0x00000000
decode_WVC1=0x00000000
gpu_mem=128
boot_delay=1

force_turbo=1
arm_freq=1000
gpu_freq=333
core_freq=500
sdram_freq=600
current_limit_override=0x5A000020
over_voltage=6

[scottt732]

Are you able to watch 1080i or just SD? I've been debating on picking up an RaspberryPi to make a dumb TV a little smarter. I just turned in all of my cable boxes, cancelled the copy once channels, and am now using the HDHomerun Prime exclusively, but this creates a bit of a gap where there are TV's w/o computers hooked up. I wasn't sure if I'd need something more powerful to watch HD. Have you had any luck with this using one of the PVR backends?

[Sumolx]

With the mpeg2 license you will be able to watch HD and SD without any issues. The PI can handle a 1080p 30fps 6.1 DTS stream without any problems thus far. If you like to tinker, then this maybe the platform for you.

I am very satisfied with it but do keep in mind that even with my overclocking levels, DLNA channel changing is a bit slow, it has to buffer the stream to the USB Stick I think. Maybe because I have the 256 MByte model, which only has something like 64 MBytes free. This may not apply to the newer version which has 512 MBytes and it means it wont have to buffer to the USB Stick which is shared pipe between the ethernet port. But I'm not certain. Runtime playback is great.

The TVHeadEnd server is too slow for my liking.... I don't use it.

[averagejoe]

Hey, I am trying to watch HD with my pi, but i can't watch it right now. The pixilation is too bad. I can watch SD ok... not perfect, but ok.

Sumolx any suggestions besides the overclockign settings you describe below? I overclocked my pi, and it is froze and will nto boot now... I think I am going to have to reload rasbmc

[Sumolx]

If you are running off the SD Card you probably corrupted the partition when you overclocked. That's why I run off a usb stick and use an old SD Card only for booting the PI.

I recommend using raspbmc as it auto detects the usb stick to install the os if you specify a dummy file called "usb" in the fat partition.

I think you're only option is to overclock the PI for it to be usable in general. That Arm processor is generally a very weak processor. I would compare it to a 400Mhz P2 intel processor when running it at 1Ghz.

[paswicka]

I just bought my mpeg2 license for my Pi, and am waiting for my license key to be generated... Woo hoo!!!!

[dasrot]

Just tried DLNA on the PI and it is semi watchable for SD and not at all watchable for HD. I may try the overclocking route, but question how long the PI will hold up under those conditions.

[Sumolx]

I have been running with those settings for about 6~7 months and the temp is usually 72C at load and never reaches 80C. Its like any other CPU/GPU, if the temps stay within spec for normal operating temps it should last for years.

[jamrcar]

Just tried DLNA on the PI and it is semi watchable for SD and not at all watchable for HD. I may try the overclocking route, but question how long the PI will hold up under those conditions.

Just curious do you have the mpeg2 encoder from the raspberry pi store?

[LeeTheTree]

I am working on using a Raspberry PI with XBMC to do nothing but watch TV in the kids rooms.
I have the HDHomeRun Prime with Windows Media Center and really like it. I can access it from other WMC computers in my house to watch/record TV. Nowhere have I found a 'betty crocker' set of instructions on how to setup HDHomeRun Prime with XBMC.
I have found instructions where a bunch of .strm files are created, but that doesn't work anymore and I'm pretty sure didn't apply to the Prime ever.
I can see two of the three tuners in XBMC if I setup a new video.
I have the Raspberry PI Mpeg license in place and I can stream content from my WMC, .wtv files, DVDs, misc videos, music, pictures, etc. from my FreeNAS server and they look good enough for me.
Why not the HDHomeRun Prime for watching TV?
As I use WMC for the DVR function, I'll watch recorded TV from there, so I don't want DVR via the PI.
A guide would also be nice, but one step at a time.
Thanks in advance!

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”
Sir Issac Newton

[koldlaser]

I am working on using a Raspberry PI with XBMC to do nothing but watch TV in the kids rooms.
I have the HDHomeRun Prime with Windows Media Center and really like it. I can access it from other WMC computers in my house to watch/record TV. Nowhere have I found a 'betty crocker' set of instructions on how to setup HDHomeRun Prime with XBMC.
I have found instructions where a bunch of .strm files are created, but that doesn't work anymore and I'm pretty sure didn't apply to the Prime ever.
I can see two of the three tuners in XBMC if I setup a new video.
I have the Raspberry PI Mpeg license in place and I can stream content from my WMC, .wtv files, DVDs, misc videos, music, pictures, etc. from my FreeNAS server and they look good enough for me.
Why not the HDHomeRun Prime for watching TV?
As I use WMC for the DVR function, I'll watch recorded TV from there, so I don't want DVR via the PI.
A guide would also be nice, but one step at a time.
Thanks in advance!

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”
Sir Issac Newton

I use vlc to capture the prime dlna server. Then select each channel you want and copy the url and paste it in a text file. Do this for each channel and when you're done save it in .strm format and xbmc will play it like a playlist.

[LeeTheTree]

Do you use VLC from inside the XBMC running on the Raspberry PI? or from Windows?
I think I'm missing some fundamental step early on...overlooking something.

[koldlaser]

Do you use VLC from inside the XBMC running on the Raspberry PI? or from Windows?
I think I'm missing some fundamental step early on...overlooking something.

I use VLC from windows. Open VLC, go to view, playlist, local network, UPnP and choose HDHomerun Live DMS "ID" then Premium Cable TV.
If you only see your 3 tuner folder from the UPnP window then your prime dlna server is not activated. Reboot your prime and try again.

*note* Only SD channel is watchable. HD is too much for rpi.

[bjdraw]

I was able to watch 720p video on the RPi with an MPEG2 license from the HDHR Prime, but not 1080i. In my test the HRHR Prime and the RPi were connected to the same 100mbps switch.

[Sumolx]

With my overclock settings I am able to watch 1080i without any problems. I think we should post our config.txt to get an idea of the minimum requirement for 1080i over DLNA. I'm thinking the most critical change will be a combination of core/gpu overlocking.